Ken Borland

One of the things that makes the Springboks such a tight-knit unit is the acknowledgement that they have all been on their own individual journeys to get there, and Retshegofaditswe ‘Ox’ Nche has found his way back into the camp, saying he only had “hope and hard work” to rely on in the last couple of years.

Loosehead prop Nche made his Springbok debut back in June 2018 as Rassie Erasmus, in his first Test as coach, bravely sent a new-look team to the United States to play Wales. South Africa succumbed to a late try in losing 22-20, but the process of sifting the players and building depth that bore fruit in the 2019 World Cup had begun.

Except that for Nche, who had started that Test ahead of Steven Kitshoff, he did not play again for the Springboks. But the 25-year-old will get the chance to put on the Green and Gold again on Friday against Georgia in Pretoria as he once again takes the No.1 jersey, with Kitshoff wearing No.17, thanks to Tendai Mtawarira moving on and Bulls star Lizo Gqoboka not being favoured by the Springbok management.

“It’s the dream of every rugby player to represent their country and be the best player you can be, and playing in 2018 was a real honour. And since then I’ve been doing everything I can just to get back there. In terms of staying patient, I only really had hope and hard work to rely on.

“But I’ve learnt whether playing Craven Week, SA Schools, Varsity Cup, Currie Cup or Super Rugby, that the great challenge is every week you have a different team posing a different challenge. You just have to be willing to give it your all, whether it’s Georgia or the British and Irish Lions. I can’t wait to show what I’m capable of at the highest level,” Nche said.

He follows in the footsteps of some marvellous loosehead props like the miraculous Os du Randt, ‘Beast’ and Kitshoff, but while he takes inspiration from them, he is not worried about emulating their stirring deeds just yet.

“It’s a privilege to have this opportinity and I don’t compare myself to Os or Beast because I am still at the beginning of my journey. I try not to think about emulating them because those guys are legends and I don’t want to put extra pressure on myself. I’m just going to focus on how I can contribute to the team as much as I can.

“I’m excited for the Georgia challenge, they are a very good physical team and taking them on up front will be the major challenge. They scrum low, but I am 1.75m tall so I can go down there too. It’s going to be an exciting battle up front, but we are aiming for the same intensity and standards as at the World Cup in 2019, that’s what we thrive on,” Nche said.

The Sharks are going to have to draw on their deepest deposits of physicality and energy for the full 80 minutes if they hope to get the better of the British and Irish Lions, according to coach Sean Everitt, which is why he named a bench with six forwards on it for their clash at Ellis Park on Wednesday night.

JJ van der Mescht and Reniel Hugo are the two locks on the bench, but it is not just brute force that the Sharks will require but also the ability to play at a high tempo.

“It’s going to be a great challenge, we learnt a lot from their game against our Lions, who probably weren’t aware what an international team can bring. They play at a high intensity, they’re always trying to speed the game up, which is something we have been working on but we are not quite there yet. We are going to have to keep up for 80 minutes, which is why we went for a 6/2 split on the bench.

“From a physicality point of view the Lions are right up there and they can vary their game – go from contestable kicks to a running game – because they have high-quality players. There’s no room for error, they give you nothing, they have incredible line-speed on defence and they put a lot of pressure on at the breakdown. We are going to need a really good team effort,” Everitt said on Monday.

Ensuring there are enough reserves in the kitty to still play high-tempo rugby in the final quarter is a challenge all South African teams are going to have to adapt to against European opposition, according to Everitt.

“In Europe there’s a big emphasis on ball-in-play time and that’s the biggest challenge from a South African point of view. Ulster and Leinster played a game recently where the ball-in-play time was 52 minutes, while in the last Currie Cup we were averaging 26-30 minutes. It’s why Rassie Erasmus stepped in with a plan to increase that. The Lions game at the weekend had 39 minutes ball-in-play.

“It’s certainly something the Sharks have been working on, we want to play at a higher intensity because it’s what we’ll need later in the year. So this game against the Lions will be a good test of how far we still have to go. We know the Lions go hard at the ball, they’re physical in the tackle and try to hold you up, so we’ve got to get to the ball quickly,” Everitt said.

But despite the daunting task ahead of them and the fact that they are playing away from their Kings Park haven, Everitt said the Sharks are as excited as puppies about taking on the Lions.

“We spoke about the opportunity to make history and if we win we will forever be in the history books as the first Sharks or Natal team to beat the British and Irish Lions. The guys are excited and have watched a lot of Northern Hemisphere rugby so they know the players and there are no false pretences of the challenge in front of us, but if we can stop their momentum and power game then we are in with a chance.

“Unfortunately we can’t play in Durban, but we’ve been in Johannesburg since Friday so our acclimatisation will be spot-on and we’ve generally done pretty well up here, we feel comfortable playing on the Highveld. Personally I remember watching the 1974 Lions playing against Border, so I have a lot of respect for the team and I’m just so glad that the game is going ahead,” Everitt said.

Sharks: Manie Libbok, Werner Kok, Jeremy Ward, Marius Louw, Thaakir Abrahams, Curwin Bosch, Jaden Hendrikse, Phepsi Buthelezi (c), Thembelani Bholi, James Venter, Hyron Andrews, Ruben van Heerden, Khutha Mchunu, Fez Mbatha, Khwezi Mona. Bench – Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Wiehahn Herbst, JJ van der Mescht, Reniel Hugo, Dylan Richardson, Grant Williams, Anthony Volmink.

Cricket South Africa’s Members Council might not yet quite be the beacons of good governance all lovers of the sport hope they become, but Wednesday night’s continuation of their AGM was an efficient 20-minute process in which they accepted Advocate Norman Arendse as an independent director and voted for all four members of the crucial Audit, Governance and Risk Committee to be independent directors as well.

The Members Council’s unanimous dissatisfaction with Arendse, a former president and lead independent director of CSA, was one of the flashpoints during the first sitting of the AGM at the weekend. The Nominations Committee agreed to reconsider but came back with the advocate as the best candidate.

Given that CSA’s new Memorandum of Incorporation makes it quite clear that the Nominations Committee have the final say, the Members Council wisely put up no resistance on Wednesday night.

The 63-year-old Arendse has been a controversial figure, attracting criticism for his continued interference in the selection of the national team and a brusque manner that has been described as bullying, and is not held in any particular fondness by the players.

With memories still fresh of how CSA’s previous Audit and Risk Committee failed so dismally to deal with the malfeasance and impropriety laid bare in the Fundudzi Report, it was pleasing to see the Members Council ensure this crucial body will be totally independent.

Seasoned governance and procurement expert Dr Lawson Naidoo will chair the committee, with Steven Budlender SC, a silk who has made his name in public interest litigation, Simo Lushaba, a leading figure from the Institute of Directors and governance expert who has sat on and chaired numerous boards,  and Mark Rayner, the former CEO of MultiChoice, the other members.

Morne Steyn is not just a sharpshooter with the boot but also one of the straightest arrows one would hope to meet as a person, and on Tuesday he confirmed he is delighted to be in the Springboks’ plans for the British and Irish Lions tour because he did not return to Pretoria to merely wind down his career.

Steyn’s Bulls team have had the wood over all other local opposition over the last year and the 36-year-old flyhalf has played a key role in their success, his game-management being spot-on and his kicking as accurate as ever, while he has also helped their backline to be especially penetrative.

The Springboks brains trust of Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber have recognised that Steyn still has all the attributes one would want from a Test flyhalf, so he has been part of their alignment camps this year.

“I’m in the Springbok group and hoping for the best. I’m a very competitive guy, whether I’m playing against Griquas or whoever, I always want to be the best flyhalf on the field. I didn’t come to Loftus to sit on the bench or help the youngsters, and playing for the Springboks is always your main goal playing in South Africa, although I didn’t feel any pressure to do it.

“It would be a bonus, not something you bargain on when you played your last Test in 2016. Now it’s five years later and I could be one of the senior guys who the youngsters look up to, like Victor Matfield and Fourie du Preez were when I made my Springbok debut against the Lions in 2009. Few people get to play the Lions twice, so I would be very blessed if it happens,” Steyn said on Tuesday.

Steyn did not play for South Africa again after a then-record 57-15 defeat against the All Blacks in Durban in October 2016, but now, after all these years, the Springboks look set to return to the veteran of 66 Tests, alongside World Cup winners Handre Pollard and Elton Jantjies.

“It’s a whole different era now, the last time I played the Lions, I was the new oke and they were my first Tests. Now things are going very well with the Bulls, experience plays a role and the body is still feeling good. I do look after my body, I enjoy stretching and recovery and I did gymnastics at school, so I think that flexibility helps. I can still do what the younger guys do.

“Now my career is coming the whole circle and I hope to finish on a high. With the quality youngsters coming through at the Bulls there’s certainly a bright future there and as long as I’m still running at the front, as long as I don’t struggle to get up in the morning or come to training, I’ll take it year-by-year. The body still feels good and my mind is ready to go,” Steyn said.